


cheers to the unworthy

by MsFluorescent



Category: KAT-TUN (Band), SixTONES (Band)
Genre: (some), Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, KAT-TUN shows up, M/M, Mages, Monsters, Not the focus - Freeform, Outer Space, Polyamory, Romance, Space Battles, i miss them, indulge me, welcome to another episode of me not being able to finish a fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22571128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsFluorescent/pseuds/MsFluorescent
Summary: the sixtones never imagined a small request leading them into a world of fantastical myth and life-threatening danger.can they defend the universe, juggle the hurdles of being a debuted band,andkeep each other alive?
Relationships: OT6 - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. mages of the universe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my friends! I know this isn't surprising, but I've started another fic. (Well, kinda.) It isn’t anime this time though. This is about Johnny's Entertainment group SixTONES, formerly known to me as the Bakaleya6 years before their debut.
> 
> I actually started this fic years before too, and though I never got around to finishing it, I still liked the concept and the idea of what I could do to improve it, that I decided to just do a rewrite. The original is on asianfanfics.net, but you don't need to read that lol
> 
> Anyway, whether you're a fan or just curious, I hope you enjoy! Title is the name of my boyfriend’s old band, I just really liked it and thought it would fit.

Jesse sighs.

Becoming a debuted band was harder than he had previously thought. Their seniors had always made it look deceptively easy when it was, with no exaggeration, the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his life so far.

Hokuto slumps on the couch next to him, curled up into his side. Yugo and Juri sit on two chairs a few feet away from them, lazily playing cards. Taiga is asleep on Shintaro's shoulder as the youngest rests his head on the wall behind him.

At that moment, the door bursts open with all the urgency of a stampeding army, startling the six to attention. In walks six other people they didn't think they'd see all in the same room again.

Kamenashi Kazuya, Nakamaru Yuichi, and Ueda Tatsuya, together again with Taguchi Junnosuke, Akanishi Jin, and Tanaka Koki. Current and former members of the legendary Johnny's group KAT-TUN, now on an indefinite hiatus.

Or _supposed_ indefinite hiatus.

Juri stands up first. " _Aniki_!" Koki smiles at his younger brother, ruffling the boy's hair. "'Sup."

"We don't have much time." Kazuya gets straight to the point, albeit with an apologetic tone.

"We need you to take our places."

As the younger group looks on in bewilderment, their seniors pull out six thin bands of varying colors.

Kazuya places in Jesse's hand a band of metallic white-gold, the half-Japanese male taking it, excitement bubbling under the surface even if he's unsure of what exactly is going on.

Tatsuya's, he hands to Hokuto, a beautiful deep amethyst color, which transitions to an almost-black under the cover of shadow.

Junnosuke is grinning as he passes a watch glowing red to Yugo. When the oldest SixTONES member tilts it curiously, the scarlet blends into more citrine tones.

Yuichi's is a true blue, like pure sapphire. He gives this to Shintaro who marvels in the way the color pulsates different shades of blue as he moves it.

From Koki to Juri is a band of dark green, fantastically melding with brown and tan. Koki grabs his younger brother close after the exchange, kissing the top of his head. "Good luck."

Jin transfers a gleaming band of silver iridescence to Taiga. He claps a hand on the youngster's shoulder and gives him a nod, once.

The older group step back toward the door. "We'll leave it to you," Tatsuya says, saluting their juniors with two fingers. And with that, the members of the band formerly known as KAT-TUN are gone nearly as fast as they came, leaving behind six confused young adults and an indecipherable whirlwind of emotions.

As weird as the entrance and exit of their seniors was, their focus instantly turns to the more glaring mystery: the bands in their palms and the vague entreaty given to them.

"How does it-" Jesse starts to ask, as he slips the band on, "-work." He trails off, watching in awe as the band instantaneously accommodates to the size of his wrist. Once the rest of the members have followed his lead, the group blink, and find themselves… where?

The white walls and racks of costumes that line their break room have disappeared, and what surrounds them now is the background of space: a satin black lit up with clusters of flaming hot gas disguised from afar as diamonds of the macrocosm. Before they can even marvel at the fact that they're breathing with their _own lungs_ in _space_ , holograms of light appear directly in front of them, encircling the group.

Soundless scenes from across the ages flash before them, somehow slow enough for them to perceive it. There are countless groups of life forms, all different in every way, save for the differently colored bands on each of their wrists.

They see the six members of KAT-TUN, standing alongside who they can only describe as extra-terrestrial beings, interacting like old, familiar friends.

The scenes fade after that, but they're still in the puzzling situation of standing, unmoved, in deep space; no platforms underneath them, no tethers attached to them. Interrupting the different versions of _what the hell_ prevalent in their minds, is a melody, haunting and initially, wordless. When the words surface, it seems to resound within them as opposed to around them.

_Mages of the universe,_

_angels of hue,_

_the cosmos supplicates defense,_

_and leaves the Earth to you._

They understand the message but can't comprehend what it means, nor do they get an explanation because as abruptly as they were whisked away, so they are also returned.

Silence befalls them for an eternal second as they attempt to make sense of what had just happened. The laws of physics and logic that they had thought they knew, are suddenly overturned in the face of a fantasy they can't explain, nor dismiss.

"So... is it safe to assume this whole 'angels of hue' thing is related to these bands?" Shintaro waves his wrist around in the air.

"Pretty much," is Yugo's answer, the oldest squinting suspiciously at his own.

"It also mentioned 'mages of the universe'. Aren't "mages" magicians, of some sort?" Taiga queries slowly.

"I can't think of any other thing it could mean," confirms Hokuto as he runs the pads of his fingers lightly across the smooth surface of the bangle. Abruptly, a purple wash of light bathes Hokuto, and the other five are left in veneration as multiple events unfold at once.

Hokuto's eyes close as the band's light sweeps him up into the air, his body hovering a few inches above the floor, encased in the violet illumination. The rest can only look on in wonder when large feathery wings emerge and envelop their friend, concealing him for a brief moment.

When the light disappears, Hokuto is placed upright at the same time the wings unfold from around him. The wings extending from his back are violet, dark, and royal, yet oddly enough, they aren't even the weirdest things about him. 

Hokuto's eyes open to reveal irises of amethyst akin to the color of his band and wings. The same melody from before resonates in their cores, the words that follow echo in their souls. **Amethyst, Mage of Density.**

Hokuto then snaps out of it, blinking in confusion as he surveys first, the dropped jaws of his team members, then his new appearance, eyes widening ever so slightly in the way they did when he was speechless.

"What in the fuck…" he breathes, gingerly caressing a wing-feather between two fingers. Someone whistles long and low. "How'd you do that, Hokku?"

The male in question looks at them, a look of utter mystification painted all over his face. "Beats the fuck out of me. I-I just… rubbed the bracelet. I guess."

"I wanna try!" Before anyone can bring up a protest, Shintaro has already skimmed across his bracelet and a glow similar to earlier illuminates his figure, though this time it's a dark azure. When the light once again disappears and the wings once again unfold, the youngest member's irises are a blue that matches his wings perfectly. **Sapphire, Mage of Liquid.**

When he comes to, Shintaro looks down excitedly at his new appearance. "Holy shit. Niiiiiice."

Jesse, unwilling to let Shintaro have all the fun, goes right after him. With a brilliant gold light, and wings and irises of shimmering gold, the second youngest is set back down on the ground and the words **Gold, Mage of Light** can be heard.

He resurfaces back to his body and upon seeing himself, shares a high-five with Shintaro. "Okay, this is actually pretty fucking cool!"

Juri goes next, stating with a shrug, "We started it already, might as well finish it." The light that wraps around him is a deep veridian, his wings and irises an equally deep forest hue, and the voice fills the spaces in and around them. **Emerald, Mage of Earth.**

Taiga tries it after, beating Yugo to the punch. A metallic light crackles over him, interspersed with heavy gray clouds, and his wings and irises glint like steel. **Silver, Mage of the Weather.**

Yugo hesitates for hardly a second before he decides, "Ah, fuck it" and slides a finger over his band. A bright red light encases him; his irises are ruby, his wings scarlet. **Garnet, Mage of Adaptation.**

With the exception of the wings and eyes, all six are dressed in matching poet shirts and ankle banded pants in a clean ivory; the colors stand out starkly against the gentle off-white.

"So…. now what?" Yugo is half mesmerized, half perplexed, at the situation they find themselves in. "I don't imagine we'd be able to just… walk outside like this."

"Maybe we wouldn't have to," Shintaro muses. "We've got wings, don't we? Couldn't we just fly?"

"Well but how do you propose we _get out_?" Taiga retorts, arms crossed.

"Uhhh… does anyone remember what the voice said about them? Maybe there's a clue there," Jesse suggests.

"It's worth a shot." Yugo agrees, curling and uncurling a fist. "Adaptation. Probably the ability to adapt to any circumstance, I'd imagine. Which also probably means I can't really figure out what I can do until I'm in a situation that calls for it."

"The voice said Liquid." Shintaro starts. "Does that mean just water? Or all liquid?" He falls silent, thinking, and then he just… melts. Literally. Where Shintaro's body used to be, is a puddle of cerulean liquid more viscous than water.

Jesse crouches down. "Shin- _ chan _ ?" He moves a finger closer, but right before he touches it, the liquid jumps onto his finger, twisting itself around his wrist.  **Yo!**

All five look around at the voice, each of them denying being the one who had said it. **It's me, Shintaro. On Jesse's arm.** They then peer curiously at the glob of liquid on Jesse, who is running his fingers through it, mouth open in awe.

  
**This might work** , is the next thing they hear before the liquid ㅡ Shin ㅡ jumps off of Jesse and the second it touches the floor, transforms back into the youngest SixTONES member. “That was awesome! I could talk to you guys without speaking, like my brain was connected to yours.”

The successful demonstration of Shin’s new abilities imbues the group with more confidence and they begin to relax, each eager to show what they’re capable of. “Light.” Jesse muses. “I wonder what that means exactly.” Fortunately, from a small window near the ceiling, a beam of sunlight streams in, irradiating over the floor. Jesse notices it and walks over, sticking a hand in the stream of golden light. A similar glow begins to outline him, and he closes his eyes. When he opens them, the outline of sunlight has moved to form a solid hammer of light in his left hand. 

He then turns to the group, grinning ecstatically. “I think I can take light and form it into anything I think about. Here, feel.” He hands the hammer to his friends, who hold it with reverence, marveling at the fact that they can touch it. The second it’s handed back to him, he closes his hand into a fist and the object disappears with a splash of light.

“Mine’s supposed to be Earth, so I don’t think I’ll be able to try it here.” Juri says, to which Taiga agrees. “Yeah, the voice said I’m a “mage of Weather” so it’d be no use here, either. How about you, Hokku?”

“Density. I wonder if that means that I…” Hokuto’s voice fades as his concentration increases, and he begins to walk toward the wall in front of him. He places his hand on the wall and pushes on it tentatively. A gasp arises from him and his friends when the appendage goes through with ease. He then walks his right leg in before pulling both out instantly, gaping at his arm and leg. “So… I’m assuming I can change the density of my body at will.”

Yugo claps his hands together once. “Okay then. Out of the six of us, only Shin and Hokku can get out through this without being seen. Not to mention, we should all probably try to go up to the roof, so the ceiling will be our best bet.”

“Hold on Kou- _chan_ , let me try something.” Hokuto grabs the oldest boy’s hand. “On the count of three, we’ll both fly up and stop right before the ceiling. Don’t let go of me.” Yugo nods. “Okay.”

“One… two… three.” After a few experimental flaps, both boys lift themselves up to just underneath the ceiling.

Hokuto is frozen in concentration for a brief second before he pushes his head through the ceiling. Slowly, he pulls Yugo through with him, and it works; both boys fly through the ceiling and disappear. A few seconds later, Hokuto comes through again and lands back down onto the floor with a big smile on his face. “I believe my power works on others as long as I’m holding them, so I can bring us each through one by one. I could probably do pairs, but I don't know if doing that will exhaust me too much.”

Once everyone is standing on the roof, another silence settles between them as the six stare out at the scenery that lies beneath. “What next?” Shintaro finally breaks the silence.

“Next, we try and find _aniki_ and the rest of them and ask them exactly what we’re supposed to do,” Juri replies.

“And how do we do that?” Hokuto queries.

“Maybe we just start flying, split up, and see if we can find them somewhere?”

“What do we do if one of us does find them?” Taiga asks, fiddling with a wing-feather.

“Let’s figure that out when it happens. For now, let’s just go find them. It seems like we can talk to each other in our heads, or something anyway.”

The other five have no rebuke to Juri’s logic, so all six ready themselves to take off. Hokuto grabs Shintaro’s hand and Shintaro grabs Jesse’s until they go down the line and all of their hands are linked. “Ready? Let’s go.”

And so in unison, the members of the SixTONES take to the sky.

Their co-joined hands allow them to steady anyone who starts off a little wobbly at first, but once they’re all steady, they relinquish hold of each other.

Shintaro and Jesse whoop excitedly as they weave through the clouds, racing each other. Though the older members are slightly more subdued, they can't keep their excitement much under wraps either. Taiga is zig-zagging erratically, making it a point to touch as many clouds as he can, shivering each time at the delightful chill that seeps into his bones. Juri dips low and soars high, attempting a few spins in the air as he flies. Hokuto and Yugo fly steadily, each lost in their own perspective wonder and amazement.

The feeling of their wings catching on the wind, the cool breeze blowing in their hair, the vast landscape of the city below them, the beautiful baby blue expanse above them; the view from the air is more amazing than they ever could have imagined.

There's a few more moments of bliss, their hearts soaring even higher than their wings. The next moment is when everything changes.

An ear-splitting screech punctures the calm, and all six come to a halt, drawing closer together. "What the _hell_ was that?" Hokuto's got a vice grip on Juri's arm as he asks this. "I don't fucking know," is the reply.

"Ow, _fuck_." Five of them turn to who had uttered the expletive, finding Taiga clutching his head. "What's wrong, Kyomo?" Yugo draws near to him, laying a hand gently on his back. "Um… there's- it's- the sky… it's… in pain? Something's disrupting its balance."

"Uhhh," the fear in Shintaro's voice is evident by its shaky quality. "would that disruption maybe be… _that_?"

Everyone draws their heads up to look at what Shintaro is talking about and are instantaneously shot with dread.

There's a giant gaping tear in the atmosphere, through which they can see a glimpse of the inky space. But they can't even focus on that, because hovering just below it are creatures the likes none of them have ever seen.

Monsters with their face and body combined into the same sphere, four tentacle-like appendages sticking out near their opaque blue orbs for eyes, pink-grayish skin stretched unnervingly, and a terrifying opening they presumed was its mouth, that spanned half of its face. Another screech blows past the group standing agape, more direct than the last one, and it provides a feeling that would probably be what it felt like to have your eardrums torn apart.

Worse than that, their screech seems to affect the fabric of reality itself, ripping more holes in the sky. Taiga is hunched over, hands over his ears, wrapping his wings around himself in an attempt to block out the sound that feels like it’s shredding his soul. “ _Kyomo_! Kyomo, are you okay?” This time it’s Juri at his side, holding onto him to make sure he doesn’t just start to fall out of the sky.

The other four are standing protectively around the pair, though they don’t look any more confident about the predicament they’re in. Unfortunately, they aren’t given much more time to be horrified, because it is at that moment that the creatures spot them. Their creepy, lifeless eyes train on the group of six, their maws open menacingly. They don’t take long to process seeing SixTONES and within a few seconds of them being spotted, the monstrosities advance towards them. They're not that fast, but their ghastly countenances don't alleviate that fact in the slightest.

(Besides, who knew how fast they _could_ get?)

“What the fuck do we do?” Shintaro cries in a panic. Jesse reaches a hand into a stream of light near him, reifying a flaming sword of light in his other hand. “No time, just fight!” Without any more warning, he jumps forward to meet the creatures head on, sword poised to strike. This seems to displease them and they open the orifices on the front of their faces once more, emitting another shriek, this time in unison.

Jesse is blown back by the wind pressure the volume causes, and would have careened into his friends if Shintaro and Hokuto had not caught him. “Don’t, Jesse!” Taiga straightens up, though it takes considerable effort for him to do so. “Assuming your weapon works, you still have to get near them. I’ll- I’ll try.”

There’s an inevitable protest on his friends’ lips but Taiga is already flying out in front of them, hands outstretched, palms facing up. _Hail, lend me your strength._

The once clear blue sky turns cloudy, the temperature dropping much lower than it was just a few seconds ago. The dark clouds right above the monsters open up and unleash a hailstorm, pelting the creatures with hailstones the size of an average fist.

That awful screeching sound permeates the air once more, but it’s not as destructive considering it’s made from pain. Jesse takes the distraction Taiga provided as his cue to dash forward, faster than even he thought possible, skewering one of the creatures with the lance he’d created. Unfortunately, he doesn't move out of the way fast enough, so when he pulls the weapon out of the monster, it splatters its innards all over him in the form of green goop.

The " _shit_!" coming from the second youngest resonates loudly, and he flies clumsily back to his friends. "Fuuuck, this is gross," Jesse whines, shaking off as much of the guts as he can.

He's hit with a splash of cold water that shocks him out of his disgust. Even in this dire moment, Shintaro wears a shit-eating grin at Jesse's perplexed look. "Cleaned the guts off of ya," is the youngest's explanation, a ball of water he had extracted from the nearest cloud hovering in his palm.

Jesse glares at the other boy, but neither of them can get into any sort of argument because the other monsters are braving the hailstorm to turn on them for the murder of their friend.

Taiga turns even paler than he already is when he realizes the monsters are no longer fazed by his hail. He can feel his exhaustion already at having to control quite a barrage when he's barely trying to _learn_ his powers, but he's not about to let his friends get killed on his account.

_Lightning, heed me_. _Please._ A fusillade of jagged lightning bolts strike the monsters, instantly killing two of them. That left four to go; four who were even _angrier_ now that they'd been electrocuted.

Thanks to Taiga's efforts, however, they are also weaker.

Jesse's got two _katana_ in hand this time and Shintaro's made two razor-sharp icicles reinforced with his magic, which the pair instantly use to launch their attacks, flying nimbly out of the way of the creature's face tentacles and devastating shrieks.

Yugo's been observing the creatures this whole time, and as he concentrates, he can feel his arms changing, can feel the growth of two new appendages on his sides until he's got four tentacles similar to the monsters'. As he watches the two youngest members doing their best to hold the creatures off, as he sees Juri holding an exhausted Taiga, spots Hokuto standing in front of the pair with a worried look, he can feel rage flow through him. Rage converts to power, and the tentacles on his body lengthen and indurate. 

He jumps into the fray to help Shintaro and Jesse, doing his utmost to drill into the monsters, making sure he doesn't get hit by their own appendages. In the trio's preoccupation with the four remaining creatures, one of them slips past their attacks, making a beeline for Hokuto, Juri, and Taiga.

"Kyomo, I have an idea, but I need your help." Hokuto says frantically. He touches two clouds near him, feeling them grow denser and denser until they're basically rock solid. "I'm going to throw these and I need you to blast them forward with a gust of wind as strong as you can manage."

Taiga nods, straightening up once more. "I'll do my best." Juri lays a hand on his friends, his magic not necessarily useful here in the sky. "I don't know if it'll work, but I'll try and give you guys my energy, and at the very least, my encouragement."

Despite the situation, the pair crack a smile at Juri's light-hearted comment. "Thanks Juri," Hokuto then flings the cloud-rocks and Taiga propels them directly into the middle of the thing's face, cutting off its final screech as it blasts two holes through. The trio exhale in relief as their adversary falls out of the sky, able to turn their attention to the other three.

Seeing Jesse, Shintaro, and Yugo hugging as what remains of the monsters hurtles down fills them with a relief so overwhelming, they fly forward to hug their friends, not caring about the space creature innards bespattered all over them.

When the adrenaline has somewhat faded away, or at least their hearts stop pounding so hard, Taiga speaks up from where he leans heavily on Hokuto. "Now who's _bright_ idea was it to fight those things? You realize we could have just… oh, I don't know, _run away_?"

Jesse's grin is sheepish, and though he doesn't say anything, is a dead giveaway.

"Well in Jesse's defense, it might have been good that we fought those things. I'm pretty sure this is the reason that we've been given these abilities for," Yugo pipes up sensibly, to which Taiga groans. "I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it."

The oldest member wraps an arm around Taiga, and by extension Hokuto, and gives them the famous Yugo Kouchi smile. "You did well, Kyomo. Thank you."

Taiga's response is a quiet "Oh, shut up", but though he turns away, his fair complexion doesn't do much to hide the soft blush blooming.

“Well,” Juri begins, clapping his hands together. “we should keep looking for my brother and the others. I’ve still got lots to ask them.”

“That’s fine, but first, we need to get the alien guts off of us. Again.” Jesse mutters with a grimace.

“Oh, Jesse- _kun_ , I can help you with tha~t.”

"Not with that freezing ass water you don't!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the monster I drew inspiration from in this chapter:
> 
> "


	2. protectors of the earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to use different colors for them speaking to each other in their heads, but apparently AO3 doesn’t let me use different colors, so I’ll have to put their first name initials, except for Juri ( **JT** ) and Jesse ( **JL** ).

The six of them touch back down in a dark alleyway, as secluded as they could possibly get in a metropolis like Tokyo.

For good measure, they landed in Akihabara.

"So… do we just… walk out?" Yugo asks apprehensively. "We're in Akiba! We should be fine to just walk out," Jesse pauses. "maybe."

"Oh great, so I'm guessing we're gonna follow him?" It's Taiga's turn to be apprehensive.

"Do you have a better idea?" Hokuto questions as the five start moving. Taiga sighs in assent. "Touché."

Unconsciously, they hold their breath as they step out, hands clasped for support. As expected, even the most hidden of alleyways opened into enough of a city that being spotted was pretty much 100%.

They could only place their success in the hope that them and their odd outfits wouldn't stand out in the culture of Akihabara.

As it turns out, nobody spares them a second glance. They freeze again when they realize; yeah, they _didn't_ want people to recognize them, but at the same time _why_ weren't they recognized?

Surely even if their clothes were not eye-catching, the fact that they were SixTONES, the up and coming stars of Johnny's, would definitely have sparked looks.

"Are we… invisible?" Taiga asks as a light goes off. "It… seems so," Juri responds slowly, watching in a little bit of apprehension and a lot of curiosity as Jesse and Shintaro run up to various passer-bys, waving their hands in their faces and receiving no acknowledgement.

"A little _too_ convenient, don't you think?" Hokuto follows up, understandably still nervous. "At least for now, if it works, I think we should go with it anyway," Shintaro says, rejoining them with Jesse.

There was no rebuke. After all, what other option did they have?

"Wait, but if we're invisible, couldn't we just fly low to try and find them? Hell of a lot faster than walking," Jesse points out and _shit yeah, why didn’t they think of that?_ Not needing to be told twice, the six of them once again take to the sky, this time taking care to fly fairly low, yet without crashing into buildings.

They do well enough for the most part, albeit for a few close calls. Once they’ve gotten used to flying at that height, they can better focus their energies on finding their seniors.

JL: **How the hell do we find them?**

H: **Some emotional clue or link or… or something?**

T: **Wouldn't we be connected to them in some way? Because they used to hold these very same bracelets?**

JT: **Maybe I can try connecting to my brother somehow?**

K: **Worth a shot. It’s not like we have any other ideas.**

JT: **The only issue is I don’t have the slightest idea how the hell to do it.**

S: **Maybe just concentrate reeeeeally hard?**

JT: **On what?!**

S: **Your brother's presence? I don't fucking know!**

JT: **I'll give it a shot I guess.**

A look of concentration shadows Juri’s face, and since Hokuto and Taiga are the nearest to him, they watch out to make sure he doesn’t hit anything while he tries to focus. Juri isn’t even really sure what he’s supposed to be concentrating on, but he decides to conjure up his brother’s face in his mind’s eye, and hopefully go from there.

Nothing happens for all of a few seconds, and then…

JT: **Wait... I'm… getting something?**

A tug, a pull, almost barely discernible, but it's there. 

JT: **To the right!**

With little to no hesitation, the group of six follow Juri, weaving in, around, and above buildings. It feels like there's a rope tied around his soul and is coaxing him forward. After some time, he can see a green illumination in the distance, in the direction they're headed.

JT: **That might be it!**

They make a beeline for that beacon of iridescent olive; it may not be what they’re looking for, but it’s the only hint they have.

Today, it looks like the universe is on their side.

Where the light shines is a man with neck-length light brown curly hair, very similar to Juri’s own when it wasn’t straightened. Next to him is another man with straightened brown hair, parted down the middle.

JT: **_Nii-san_ ** **and Kamenashi-** ** _san_** **!**

The group of six touch down a few paces away from where the pair stand, holding hands. They make their way to them easily. The pair are in front of a store’s display window, _ooh_ ing over the designer watches that are being showcased. The members stand behind them, looking at their reflections in the display window.

H: **Can they even see us?**

His question is instantly answered when the second Koki and Kazuya look up and see SixTONES in the window, they immediately turn around. “Juri, how’re you guys doing?”

“You can see us?” Shintaro answers the question with another question. Kazuya nods with a smile. “Anyone who has previously held or currently holds a band will be able to see you guys in your full form.”

“But be careful.” Koki adds. “Normal people can’t generally see you _unless_ they are in physical contact with you. The second they’re not, you disappear to them, but by that time, they’re already aware that you’re there.”

“Thanks for the advice. But we had more questions. What exactly are we supposed to do? What are the full extent of our powers? Are we the only angels? How many monsters are there? Why-”

“Whoa, whoa, Juri, slow down.” Koki lightly grabs his brother’s arms. “That’s a lot of questions.”

“First,” Kazuya starts. “Ms. Melody explained to you what you should do, right?”

Jesse’s quizzical look is the same on the other five. “Ms. Melody?”

“That’s what we call the voice that speaks in you. The one when you put the bands on.” The questioning expressions give way to ones of recognition.

“Second,” Koki goes next. “we can’t tell you the full extent of your powers because every angel has a different one. Every person who holds a band, past, present, and future, have different abilities, can control different aspects of the universe. For example, I could connect to any living thing, excluding humans, and ask them to come to my aid.”

Kazuya nods in concurrence. “And I could control soundwaves. I could enhance or lessen them as I wished, and since soundwaves exist literally _everywhere_ , with some practice, I could pick them out and project them to specific beings to deafen them, blow out their eardrums, whatever I wanted essentially.

“That’s why the only way you guys will ever learn the full extent of your powers and how to master them is by discovering them yourselves.”

“For your third and fourth questions: no, you are not the only angels. There are plenty of them, all across the universe. You guys, like us, are just a few of the ones tasked with the planet Earth. And there are just as many, if not more, monsters.” 

“Have you guys encountered any yet?” Koki queries while the six are taking this information in.

It’s Kouchi who answers. “Yeah. They were ugly blob-like things with tentacles sticking out of their heads-slash-bodies. Didn’t seem very smart though.”

“Some aren’t. But not all are stupid. There is so much intelligent life out in the universe, and that includes those that seek to destroy.”

With _that_ terrifying fact, Kazuya and Koki both give them sheepish looks. “I’m sorry we can’t help any more than this. This journey is technically one that you guys are supposed to go through together. Kame and I no longer have our abilities, we lost them when we stopped being angels.”

“We can always provide information though, to the best of our ability anyway. A special treat for our darling _kohais_.”

Before the new group of angels can think up any more questions to answer, an unearthly roar echoes; the civilians in the area looking in the direction apprehensively. And then, the source of the sound is discovered.

There’s three of them; horrifying creatures that resemble that of octopuses on Earth, if they were all ten times bigger. A bulbous head, eight beady eyes, pointed beaks for mouths that look like they’re sharper than steel, and _long_ tentacles that extended down and out from their head.

“Jesus christ, what is it with the fucking _tentacles_?!” Taiga sounds utterly exasperated. As soon as the crowds catch sight of the monsters, panic ensues; people running every which way, cars screeching to a stop and people dashing out of them. Juri remembers his brother and Kazuya, and turns to them worriedly.

“You guys should go now! You have no powers right? We got this.” The pair nod, knowing it’s the sensible thing to do, but before they leave, Koki grabs his brother in a hug. “Good luck you guys. Don’t you _dare_ die.”

And then their seniors are running the opposite way, ducking into an alley to take a more hidden route.

This leaves the six with a panicking crowd, enormous monsters, and an awful sense of _what the fuck do we do now?_

K: **How the hell do we get the civilians out of the way?**

The monsters have started their rampage, destroying buildings, crushing cars, all while sounding like they've come from the bowels of Hell itself.

T: **Things like** **_these_ ** **seriously exist in the universe?**

JL: **And there's probably stronger ones too.**

H: **Wow, fucking** **_thanks_ ** **for that. As if these fuckers weren't terrifying enough.**

S: **Whoa, Hokku's cursing a lot. He must be really stressed.**

K: **Uhhh,** ** _really_** **not** **the time, guys.**

S: **Okay, okay. I think… I have an idea to get the civilians out, but I need you guys to cover me.**

Shintaro flies up, taking inventory of all the fire hydrants in his vicinity. “Let’s fucking go!” With his palms up, Shintaro lifts his arms and the fire hydrants explode, jets of water streaming up in a vertical arc. The Sapphire Angel brings his hands together, the water combining to create a wall that Shintaro pushes forward, forcing everyone in front of it to continue running the opposite way.

The monsters have spotted Shintaro now and don’t seem to be particularly pleased with what he’s doing, letting loose another roar before opening their terrifying mouths. Juri has no idea what they’re planning to do, but he isn’t going to find out. “Hell no, you don’t!” Juri flies behind Shintaro, crouching, with his hands on the ground. _Earth, please help me protect them._

Juri feels a rumble make its way from his body, down his arms, and into the concrete. Thick roots with even thicker thorns burst out of the ground, zeroing in on the monsters. A fire to _protect_ wells up in him, blazing and white-hot. The spiky roots surge forward, Juri willing them to rotate to increase the possible damage dealt.

His roots are able to drill successfully through all three of the monsters, leaving gaping holes. However, before any of them can celebrate, the wounds of the monsters slowly begin to close.

JT: **Fuck! I gotta keep attacking them before they regenerate.**

Probably irritated, the creatures open their mouths again, letting out a scream that solidifies, turning into its own rotating weapon of sound and air, headed straight for Juri. Luckily, the Emerald Angel is able to put up a wall of gravel, but the impact of the sound does end up throwing him backward.

“Juri!” Taiga sees when his friend hits the ground, sees the pained expression, and he turns icy silver eyes burning with anger towards the monsters. The sky above them darkens, and then opens to unleash a downfall of acidic rain. _Rain with a_ fucking _twist_. The roars turn to shrieks as the acidity pelts the creatures, burning into them. 

T: **Stay out of the way of the rain, it’s acidic! I don’t think I can spare you guys from it.**

K: **Got it. You’re doing great, Kyomo.**

JL: **I’m gonna help too!**

H: **Wait, but you can’t go close to them!**

JL: **Watch and learn.**

Jesse sticks his hand into the illumination coming from the streetlight next to him, materializing a spear in one hand. He soars into the sky, facing the monsters squarely before hurtling his spear forward with a “Fuck you!” His aim is impeccable; the spear of light drills into the middle creature’s forehead, and combined with the onslaught of burning rain and undulating roots, it collapses to the ground.

“One down, two to go!” Two of whom are extremely angry now. Hokuto grabs a manhole cover, lifting it up easily with strength he didn’t realize he had, consciously making it more condensed until it’s even more of a weapon than it was initially. Rising into the sky, he spins it around before letting it loose, hoping against hope it hit a target.

Luck was on his side.

The manhole cover, ten times heavier than usual, slams straight into the head of another of the beasts, pushing it back until it slams into the side of a building with an ear-piercing cry. It’s still alive, however, attempting to push the offending object off of it. Not taking chances, Hokuto finds another one, repeating the process and flinging it in the same direction. With a triumphant clench of his fist, his second projectile hits exactly where he wanted it to, adding insult to injury. Already weak from the attacks from Juri and Taiga, the creature isn’t strong enough to push off _two_ incredibly dense metal covers.

Kouchi can feel himself growing taller, his legs transforming into tentacles like the beasts in front of them. He’s not as tall as them, but it doesn’t matter because he can fly. Facing the creature that Hokuto downed, the Garnet Angel opens his mouth, releasing a sound-spear like the monsters’ own. The power of a leader protecting his members is strong; strong enough that his spear pierces through both covers and the monster, affixing it to the building.

Shintaro, now having evacuated everyone that he can see, helps a scraped Juri up, before stepping in front of the older, facing the remaining monster with a determined look in cerulean irises. 

S: **Kou-** ** _chan_** **, lend me your help. Can you make another scream thingy? And Juri, if you’re good, give me a root? Just one is okay.**

JT: **I got you.**

K: **Yeah, sure.**

The oldest heads to where Shintaro stands, emitting the screech that forms the spear of sound. The last creature opens its mouth, creating its own spear to counteract. To Kouchi’s sound, Shintaro adds a stream of water, and Juri a thorny root. Taiga’s exhausted, but he keeps the acid rain over the last one up for a little bit longer, just enough for the three to launch their attack.

The combined force of powerful sound, liquid, and earth clash with the monster’s weapon, dispersing it easily and stabbing into the beast with a sickening _thwack_. With a final roar-shriek, it falls, and then everything goes silent.

“Did- did we do it?” Shintaro watches anxiously for any movement. The six of them gather together, Juri leaning heavily on Kouchi, and Taiga on Hokuto. After a few seconds that feel more like eternity, it seems their victory is certain.

“FUCK YEAH!” Jesse whoops, jumping up and doing a flip in the air. The relief in the air is palpable; the members hugging ecstatically. In their excitement upon winning, they don’t realize that the air around them has gone still, like Time itself is holding its breath.

It is when a cavity opens in the sky, do the Angels huddle together once more. Coming out of the cavity is a group of four, dressed in what look like space hazmat suits, and as they get closer, the six bystanders realize they can’t see much through the clear mask covering what they assume is their face. It just looks like two eyes embedded on a background of black mist.

Three of them go to the monsters’ bodies, grabbing a huge tool from their back and vacuuming the bodies in. One of them heads to the watching angels who are watching apprehensively, guards up. In a voice and language that sounds like nothing they’ve ever heard, the being in the hazmat suit says, “Well done, Protectors of Earth. Two groups in one day is not an easy feat.”

How they can understand the extremely foreign language is beyond them, and they don’t get a chance to reply back because as quickly as they came, so the hazmat group disappears back through the cavity into space. But, not before repairing the damage done. The boys watch in amazement as the destroyed buildings and roads piece themselves together, until there’s no indication that anything had occurred. Once the hole has closed, the Earth releases the breath she was holding, and time resumes its natural course.

The world goes back to how it used to be before the attack; people milling around, enjoying the day out, or rushing to previous appointments. The Angels take to the sky to avoid accidentally touching a human, hovering above the ground and taking in the scene of normalcy around them.

“Are you guys hungry? ‘Cause I sure as hell am.” Jesse states, feeling the rumble of his stomach. Now that the adrenaline is wearing off and is being replaced with exhaustion, his other members agree; food would be the ideal right about now.

JT: **How do we get out of this?**

The members have begun flying to find an area secluded enough to transform back without being spotted.

H: **Hopefully the same way we got in it.**

They land in another alley, safely out of the way of prying eyes. Together they swipe their bracelets, instantly reverting back to the clothes they had on before, their wings disappearing, their eyes going back to their normal color. “Owww…” Five pairs of eyes turn to Juri, who's clutching his back.

Taiga goes to his friend, gently lifting his shirt up. “Are you okay- oh, yikes.” Juri’s back is all scraped up from having been thrown, blood running down the length of it. Jesse sees the wounds and something inside him moves him forward, grabbing Juri and pulling him to a part of the alley where light from the sun beams down.

“Can you hold your shirt?” Juri nods and reaches around to keep his shirt lifted up. Jesse puts one hand in the light, the other on Juri’s back, breathing steadily, his eyes turning a bright gold. The other four come closer and watch in awe as the wounds on Juri’s back gradually start to close. It happens slowly, but soon, there’s no evidence Juri was ever hurt.

Jesse’s panting slightly when he opens his eyes again, but he grins when he sees his handiwork. Juri twists around to see, eyes widening when he surveys the smooth skin of his back. “ _Whoa_ , how’d you know to do that?”

“I didn’t. I just saw you hurt, so I just... did it.”

Juri looks incredulously at the second youngest member, before returning the grin and grabbing him in a hug. “Well, thanks. You’re awesome, man.”

“I know.” Jesse claps the older on the back, still grinning.

“Now, let’s fucking eat!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe I put a little KoKame in there :) they were one of my favorite ships in KAT-TUN
> 
> Battles are so hard to write wow


	3. sentience and otherworldly guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the beautiful jc_lewis, who is also an author here, created this amazing, and I mean amazing, fanvideo for this fic. I put it up on youtube for anyone who wants to see it!   
> [Cheers to the Unworthy fanvid](https://youtu.be/O1-M5kuBqHc)

“Thank you everyone for coming! We love you all!” The members of SixTONES bow to the cheering crowd, hands clasped together. They begin to file offstage, still waving and blowing kisses to their audience.

Once inside the dressing room, they instantly collapse into a state of relaxation, not yet bothering to change their clothes.

This is their last concert of the week, and they are positively _exhausted_.

It’s been an entire week of running here and there, doing concerts, fanmeets, shooting videos for their Youtube channel. They knew it would be like this; they’ve been training for this nearly their whole lives, after all, but it still didn't make it any less stressful or tiring.

They make to get up and get out of their concert attire, when a loud crash outside startles them. Panicked screams can be heard inside their waiting room, along with the sound of chaos unfolding.

The members of SixTONES take one look at each other before swiping their fingers across their bracelets. The second their transformations are complete, they’re walking out the door of their dressing room, running down to the exit while avoiding contact with people. Upon making it outside, they’re frozen in their tracks.

The monster they can see is gigantic; it looks like a humongous bug, every part of it so black its surface seems to swallow light. It has six arms that end in razor sharp points, and it walks on two more legs, something _nobody_ ever wants to see a bug doing, not to mention one the size of the fucking Tokyo Tower.

The worst part of it all, is that they can hear sounds coming from it. At first, it just seems like unintelligible animalistic growls, but as the Angels’ ears adjust…

**_Need… energy. Angels… need… angels. Food is here… on this puny world._ **

“Am- am I tripping out, or can I actually understand what he’s saying?” Taiga’s eyes are wide in fear. “It's not just you. This one is definitely more intelligent than the others,” Kouchi grimaces as he watches the giant bug wade through crowds as though the people are nothing more than… bugs.

(The thought of whether this could be considered karmic justice flashes through their minds briefly. A question for another time.)

Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be bothering with regular humans which, considering its motives, makes a lot of sense. Unluckily, it also doesn’t care much about the people it crushes underneath, either.

“Nothing for it, we have to go.” Hokuto takes to the sky and the other five follow, refusing to let him face that… _thing_ alone. They fly in its path, halting the creature whose beady eyes shift to focus on them. **_Angels. Food. You… are… food. Beautiful… energy._ **

“I _am_ beautiful, but you can’t eat me.” Taiga creates a hail cloud, releasing its contents on the creature. He decides to start with smaller hailstones, unwilling to expend so much energy so early on. Unfortunately, the monster seems unfazed, the hail falling off of its skin without so much as a scratch. **_Itchy. Don’t like… itchy. You… are a pesky Angel. Don’t… fight… back… my food._ ** **  
  
**

“Kyomo! Get out of there!” Taiga heeds Kouchi’s yell with no hesitation, flying back to his friends who have gotten the civilians all out of harm’s way, hidden behind a wall of vines Juri made.

Hovering in front of the bug is a purple swirling mist, and then another one opens near where the six stand. As they watch in horror, the bug goes through the mist, half of his body coming out the other end, near the Angels. They jump back just in time to narrowly avoid the creature swiping at them with its arms.

S: **Fuck, he’s got portals?!**

JL: **How far do you think he can teleport like that?**

H: **I don’t wanna fucking find out.** **We gotta waste this thing before it gets smarter.**

Water bursts out of the fire hydrants and from underneath the manholes, swirling into a tornado of water that Shintaro sends toward the bug. Hokuto grabs debris and gravel, making them denser and then throwing them into Shintaro’s tornado to give it an edge.

The water/debris cyclone beats the bug back, and as it tries to fight it, Jesse brandishes two spears of light, as sharp as he can get them to be, before flying behind the creature to stab at its back. The spears make a dent, but really only serve to annoy the creature further, and Jesse doesn’t doubt that if it wasn’t preoccupied with Shintaro’s creation, it would have bitch-slapped the hell out of him.

JL: **This guy’s armor is no fucking joke! It’s hard as shit.**

Juri pulls roots from underneath the ground, targeting its underbelly with the hope that it's softer than its exoskeleton. It is, but not by much. He succeeds in cutting it with his hardened roots, but unfortunately, the pain angers it. With a roar, it smacks Shintaro’s tornado, the force of it being blasted apart sends the Angels reeling backwards.

“Oh fuckfuckfuck,” Taiga creates acid rain, interspersed with lightning because _why the hell not?_ As the acidity pelts the monster and the lightning wraps around it, another pained screech erupts from its mouth. 

**_Hurts… pesky… pesky Angels. Must… devour… Angels._ **To their horror, the creature continues to move forward, albeit slowly.

Kouchi feels himself get larger, feels the addition of four more arms, all six transforming until they’re sharp as knives. He wills a portal open in front of him and another one underneath the belly of the beast, before going through, coming up right underneath the monster. He begins to slash at the underbelly with his insect arms, the pained screeches getting louder.

It looks as if this way is going to work, until the colossal bug figures out where the pain is coming from and kicks Kouchi, knocking the Garnet Angel back through the portal with a yelp. “Kou- _chan_! Are you okay?” Hokuto crouches next to him, brow creased worriedly.

“Fine. I’m fine. But what the fuck do we do about that thing?” The creature roars again, breaking out of the lightning’s electric embrace, its body steaming, exoskeleton spattered with craters from the acid. The Silver Angel collapses, but luckily, Juri is there to catch him, flying back to Hokuto and Kouchi. Shintaro and Jesse join them, their brains working a mile a minute to figure out what else they can think to do.

The space bug is even more incensed, zeroing in on their position, creating another portal. They make to fly back, until growls emerge from behind the Angels, catching theirs and the monster's attention.

They watch in abject horror as what looks to be a horde of zombies dash at the creature, ripping, clawing, biting at its body. No matter how many times the monster kicks at the crowd of the undead, there’s still more left. 

“What the hell are you guys having so much problem with _one_ fuckin' thing for?!” A rough voice growls at them, and they see a man who looks to be around their age with spiky, ash-blond hair and eyes that glare at them with a piercing yellow-green, matching his glittering chartreuse wings.

“Bakugou, don’t be an ass. They’re probably new.” A new voice pipes up, coming from a smiling redhead who's got black wings that give off a sheen of violet when they sway, matching the dark pools he’s got for irises. “Sorry about him.” He addresses SixTONES then with a sheepish smile. “He’s a little hotheaded. You guys are doing just fine!”

“Stop talking Yukihira, and just beat the motherfucker!”

The other Angel, Bakugou, flies into the air, facing the monster. A thick swarm of insects swirl around him and bombards the monster when he directs them forward. The bug screeches as insects pelt its face, stumbling backwards on its now unstable two legs.

Yukihira then flies up behind the monster, and as the members look on in awe and bewilderment, the Angel swipes his hand, a black hole appearing right behind it. The gravitational pull from behind, in combination with being pushed by insects from the front, means the space creature is torn apart and its remnants disappear through the black hole.

The black hole goes away and the undead horde crumbles. As they touch down next to SixTONES, the cosmic hazmat suits come back, this time only with the task to restore the world that was destroyed to its original state. When time spins back into its natural progression, the two new Angels turn to the watching group.

“Uh… thanks for saving us,” Kouchi stands up, holding a hand out. He winces at the sharp pain that suddenly pierces through his side. Yukihira takes his hand, shaking it firmly, but gently, with a smile. “Of course, us Angels gotta help each other. Besides, you guys weakened it.” Bakugou scoffs and turns away, but doesn’t retort.

“Ignore him,” Yukihira says with a playful roll of his eyes. “He’s _always_ like this.”

“Can it, _asshole_.” His partner growls at him, and if looks could kill...

"Oh!" Yukihira starts, remembering something. "It's, uh, it's customary to start with an introduction, I believe. Yukihira Souma, Mage of Antimatter."

He nudges his companion, who sighs, but acquiesces. "Bakugou Katsuki, Mage of the Dead."

It takes SixTONES a good moment to process those before they decide they should return the greetings.

"Yugo Kouchi, Mage of Adaptation."

"Tanaka Juri, Mage of Earth, and this is Kyomoto Taiga," Juri gestures to the still unconscious male in his arms. "of the Weather."

"Matsumura Hokuto, Density."

"Lewis Jesse, Mage of Light."

"Morimoto Shintaro, Liquid! Also, I had a question. Where did you guys- like, how did you find us?” Shintaro asks the question all six have on their minds.

“Ah, we were looking for something to do, when a signal came up from here, so we followed it.”

This statement opens up more questions than it really provides answers. “A signal? Where- how did you receive a signal? We didn’t send any up.” Hokuto is eyeing them warily, although the smile that Yukihira turns to them does ease that a little bit.

“I don’t mind explaining anything you want to know, but we should at least get out of the humans’ way.” That isn’t a statement anyone can argue with, so they all take to the sky. Yukihira goes to Juri, who still has an unconscious Taiga in his arms. “Do you need help with him?”

The Emerald Angel tightens his grip on his friend almost unconsciously. “Oh, no, I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

“Of course, just thought I’d ask.” The eight of them land on the roof of the tallest building nearest to them, Juri setting Taiga down so the other can rest on his lap. Jesse goes over to Kouchi and places one hand on his side, another directly underneath the sunlight.

“So. You asked about the signal. Well, when Bakugou and I were looking at the map, we got six beacons coming from here-"

"Wait, wait, sorry," Kouchi holds up his hand. "map? What map?"

Yukihira looks at them, a baffled look on his face. "You guys don't know about the map?"

"Whoever the hell taught you guys did a shitty job," Bakugou snaps, causing the members' hackles to rise.

"For your information, _nobody_ taught us anything." Jesse speaks out, a frown on his face. "We were just given these… things and then left to figure it out on our own."

The Chartreuse Angel lets his body fall slack, brow furrowing in something that isn't quite anger. His companion smiles at them sympathetically. "Sorry about that, we had no idea. Gotta hand it t'ya, you guys've learned how to use your abilities well enough already, considering you all taught yourselves."

He holds his hand out then. "Take my hand and make sure you're all holding onto each other. I'll show you the map."

Jesse, who’s next to him, eyes his hand warily for a second before deciding they don't really have another choice. He puts his hand in Yukihira's, holding his other out behind him. 

When all six are connected, Yukihira extends his other hand to Bakugou, who clicks his tongue and turns away, but not before grabbing his hand, interlocking their fingers together.

The sprawling skyline of Tokyo disappears, once again replaced by the velvet black of deep space. As they hover in it, another iridescent hologram surrounds them.

There's so much to take in that at first, the newer Angels don't quite know what they're looking at.

There are countless spirals, extending all the way to the borders of the map, and then some. Yukihira raises a hand, seemingly picking a spiral at random, and then the map shifts to show multiple areas, all with different amounts of spherical orbs and huge, bright stars.

Yukihira picks a solar system and the map then provides a look at the planets in that system. "See that?" He touches the figure of one of the planets, the map zooming in closer. There are two beacons of light in colors they don't have the words for, pulsating.

"Those are Angels. This is how we found you guys." The members of SixTONES are, to put it simply, _absolutely fucking dumbfounded_. There is silence for a while as they take it in.

Then the silence becomes too much and they decide they want answers instead. “So, how do you get… here?” It’s Shintaro who raises the question, hand flopping as he vaguely indicates the space around them.

“As long as you’re in your Angel form, you can just think about it, and you should end up here! A lot about us lies in the strength of our minds.”

There’s another silence that falls until Hokuto pipes up, almost hesitantly. “Where are you guys from?”

Yukihira gives him a smile before he turns to the map once more, and with practiced ease, finds what he’s looking for. He points to a large planet in one of the swirling galaxies he had touched on. “Planet Minea, in the Magniyari Galaxy.”

His declaration is met with mystified stares. He chuckles softly. "Yeah, 'm not sure how far, but we're a good distance away from you guys."

"Do- do all Angels have the ability to traverse the universe just like that?"

"Sure we do! It's how we're here now. It's difficult to get the hang of, but you'll know it when you need to make it happen."

His smile becomes a little more mischievous. "Usually though, Angels stay where they're designated to because there's a reason they're assigned there. Bakugou and I, well, we get bored easily."

"C'mon half-wit, we gotta get back. Aldini's gonna yell at you." Bakugou's statement makes his partner wince.

Yukihira smiles at them, friendly and a little apologetic. "Don't beat yourselves up about the monster today, you all seriously did really well. We'll definitely try and contact you if we need saving next time."

Despite the way the battle had gone, and despite having a bunch of information simultaneously dumped on them only to find out they still don't even know the _half_ of what the hell is going on, there is something reassuring knowing they aren't the only ones.

Mostly thanks to how comfortable Yukihira makes them feel, they can all bring grins to their faces to see them off. 

"Well, it was really nice to meet you. Hopefully we'll see each other around, but 'til then, stay safe!"

"Don't die, newbies." Bakugou doesn't smile, but he does regard them with a look of something that if they squinted, might even be akin to respect?

And with that, the pair take off into the vast space, hands entwined.

The members watch them until their figures disappear beyond a haze of stars. "How old do you think they were?" Shintaro asks eventually, turning his eyes to the rest of his members.

"They're not even from our galaxy, their time may not even work the same way ours does," Hokuto answers sensibly, violet eyes roaming the diaphanous map.

"Should we head back?"

"I definitely want to," Taiga mutters exhaustedly, the first thing he's said since coming to a little bit ago.

They grab hands again, making sure they were all clearly thinking about home. They land back on the roof they had come from, and use that opportunity to fly to a hidden alleyway and transform back.

The day's events leave everyone tired as all hell, so they part without much fanfare, intent on getting a good amount of sleep to prepare them for whatever else may come.

* * *

Hokuto opens and closes his fist, gaze burning holes. _Was there a way he could use his ability on himself more efficiently?_

Something… the vestiges of an idea, barely there, but _it's there_ , dangles in the back of his mind just out of reach, and he feels like a fucking horse, reaching for a carrot dangling on a stick that he can't get to.

"Fuck!" He falls backwards onto the bed, disliking the idea of having to pull his legs on as well.

So he doesn't. He lays completely still in what is surely the most uncomfortable sleeping position known to man, and falls right the fuck asleep.

Guess his brain had had enough.

His doorbell is what jolts him awake, that weird feeling of displacement after an unexpected midday nap hastening his wakefulness.

The ringing is incessant, and Hokuto can instantly narrow it down to four suspects. "Fuck, _shut_ _up_ , I'm coming!"

He wonders which of his idiots it is as he pulls the door open, before instantly exhaling in slight exasperation.

It's all of them.

From the fact they stopped mid-motion, Hokuto assumes they had been taking turns.

Kouchi is hanging behind them, an apologetic smile on his face as he waves hello. Hokuto's face softens then, and his brow isn't as furrowed when he turns to the others.

(Besides, these four had stupidly cute smiles and Hokuto was weak as _fuck_ to them, and he knew it.)

He does still school his expression into one of unamusement though, because he has a reputation, _goddammit_.

"You better have a damn good reason for rudely waking me up from a great nap." It wasn't, not really, but they didn't know that.

"We should train," Kouchi says, and Hokuto immediately drops the faux irritation. "Yeah, that works." He says nothing more as he grabs his keys and locks his house.

When they're heading out of the complex, he asks, "Dance studio?" Jesse throws an arm around him. "Smart boy!"

Hokuto sends him a glare that's a lot more impish than it is annoyed. "Of course, the hell do you think I am?"

"Beautiful. I think you're beautiful."

Hokuto rolls his eyes and jabs Jesse in the side with his elbow. "And you're dumb."

(If the reaction was to hide him being flustered, he'd never say.)

"I mean, it's not that hard to figure out. It's the only place we'd be able to have to ourselves easily without question," Taiga points out, snark in his tone and a smirk on his face.

Hokuto directs the same glare to him. "Whatever you say, _young master_." Taiga sticks his tongue out petulantly, face scrunching in disgust at the nickname. "Fuck you."

"Don't wanna." The resulting glare he gets makes Hokuto grin widely.

"Quit flirting you two, we're here." Shintaro admonishes cheekily, giggling and jumping out of the way of Hokuto's and Taiga's fists.

They enter one of the rooms in the dance studio and lock the door. Even if nobody would see them in their Angel forms, they didn't want to risk someone thinking the room was empty and trying to use it.

Once the transformation is complete, they stand there in silence for a few seconds. "Well. Everyone ready?" Kouchi exhales a quick breath, clapping his hands together.

The group "woo"s half-heartedly, anticipating how difficult this was going to be.

Outside, Juri sits on the ground, palms connected to the Earth. He closes his eyes, breathing slowly, deeply.

He can feel _everything_ ; the immovable gravel directly underneath him, the packed, loose dirt and mud underneath that, the roots of the trees and plants stretching out, the little creatures who have made the underground their home. If he concentrates hard enough, he can even feel the other layers leading to the core of the Earth, which is molten, burning hot.

To do the training he needed to do, he needed to unite with the Earth more. He could already utilize her visible characteristics, but it's the ones he can't see that he wants to learn to use.

As Juri continues to explore his kinship with Mother Earth, Taiga takes to the skies. He, too, focuses on connecting with the atmosphere, the vast sky, the countless dotted clouds.

His current battles had shown him that it wasn't enough for him just to _use_ the weather, he had to make it _devastating_. And to do that, he would need to make them bigger and more frequent. _Would he also be able to create two weather anomalies at once?_

Taiga exhales. He had his work cut out for him.

Jesse's got an abundance of natural light to work with outside, so he takes his training out there, too. _If he could mold light_ and _he could throw it, couldn't he make multiple projectiles?_ He tries it; forms the light into small bullets and shoots them from his hand upwards.

They're really fucking fast.

He's pretty sure the only reason he can see it go is because he's so focused on it. He isn't sure why he's so surprised, though; when light moves, it moves at lightspeed after all, one of the few universal constants.

_Well. That was easier than he had thought._

As Jesse ponders over what else he can try, the three left inside aren't as lucky.

Shintaro sits on the floor, chin rested on his fist. He could control liquid, so what fell in its realm? Water, obviously. Did mud count? What about sweat, saliva? 

Blood?

Shintaro sits up straighter, taking a deep breath as his eyes close. He forces his mind to laser focus on any fluid in his vicinity. With delight, he finds that blood is the easiest to detect and grab hold of. He's not sure _why_ , but maybe it had something to do with blood continuously being pumped into every part of every organism.

More than being able to utilize it, however, he had to understand it. Starting with himself, he explored his blood with his mind's eye, learning its material, what it did, how to use its natural flow to coax the blood where you want it to go.

He doesn't attempt to do anything to anyone's blood, nor is he gung-ho about using it often.

So, he focuses on testing other things he can control. At least he knew now that it was an option.

For a long while, Kouchi has _no_ idea what he could do. Adaptation was best tested in the heat of the battle, but he couldn't just wait for that every time.

He _needed_ to get stronger; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to protect them. And if he couldn't even protect his own teammates, how was he supposed to protect the whole Earth?

He decides he'll go outside too, observe all the different evolutions brought about by Mother Nature. He's sure if he has any chance of finding an answer, it'll be from her.

Hokuto is as stumped as he was before he had taken the nap. He grits his teeth, annoyed at his own powerlessness. _Powerless_ … that word piques something in his brain; something… on the tip of his tongue. Phasing.

He gasps. _Holy shit_. Hokuto chuckles to himself with a mixture of relief and exasperation. He had _finally_ figured it out.

* * *

**You must be wondering why you've been summoned here.** With a hand clutching Kazuya's, Koki shrugs. "We're used to not knowing what to expect from you."

Jin scoffs next to them, clearly not wanting to be here. Yuichi stands next to him, a gentle hand on Jin's shoulder, the only force keeping him from turning tail and getting the fuck out.

Junnosuke and Tatsuya are silent, crowding close to the others as they anxiously await whatever they were called here for.

**We will be returning your abilities temporarily.**

Well, _that_ wasn't what they expected. "Um, thank you? But… why?" Kazuya smoothes his voice out as he asks; even if the methods were batshit, respect was a given when speaking to _them_.

This all-encompassing entity in their universe, the greatest force one could ever encounter.

**We need you to conduct a test of skill. For a group you know well.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe I couldn’t resist putting them in, sorry not sorry
> 
> I got the inspo for the monster from this:
> 
> ”/>

**Author's Note:**

> I'll add more tags once I think of them


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